ConAgra Says Ralcorp Took Less Than a Day to Reject Revised Bid

ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta, said Ralcorp Holdings Inc. took less than 24 hours to reject its $5.18 billion takeover offer and did so without discussion between the two firms.

“We are extremely disappointed by Ralcorp’s summary rejection of our strong proposal and its repeated refusals to explore this opportunity for its shareholders,” ConAgra Chief Executive Officer Gary Rodkin, 59, said yesterday in a statement.

Ralcorp, the maker of Post cereals, last week spurned a $94-a-share bid from Omaha, Nebraska-based ConAgra after turning down earlier offers of $86 and $82 a share. The company said last month that it planned to spin off its Post Foods unit to focus on making private-label foods. St. Louis-based Ralcorp received little interest as it sought to sell Post, people familiar with the matter have said.

“We are firmly committed to this plan and therefore, we have unanimously determined that we have nothing further to discuss,” Ralcorp Chairman William Stiritz said in an Aug. 12 statement.

ConAgra’s cash proposal wasn’t “in the best interests” of the company and shareholders, Ralcorp said in the statement.

Ralcorp rose 36 cents to $79.02 last week and climbed as much as 10 percent in extended New York trading on Aug. 12 after announcing that it had turned down ConAgra’s latest bid.

The rejection was a “good decision,” because the company will be worth more than $94 a share in the near future, Alton Stump, an analyst at Independence, Ohio-based Longbow Research, said in an Aug. 12 telephone interview. The company generated about $3 billion in revenue last year from selling nuts, sauces and frozen foods under retailers’ own brands.

Ralcorp said earlier this month that it agreed to buy Sara Lee Corp.’s North American refrigerated dough unit for $545 million to bolster its private-label brands with pizza and toaster pastries.

“Ralcorp should be able to make even more acquisitions, which should boost them considerably,” Stump said. “They’re off to a good start.”

ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta, said Ralcorp Holdings Inc. took less than 24 hours to reject its $5.18 billion takeover offer and did so without discussion between the two firms. We are extremely disappointed by Ralcorp s summary rejection of our...